This one looks a lot like the last update, but I did work on it. Honest. I messed a little with the birdcage part and the bird and the feather. Just the background and a few little details left to finish up on this one.
The Birdcage (in progress 3)
Here’s the next round on The Birdcage. Kind of calming down that electric blue a little, and getting the colors on the cat closer to where they need to be. I’m still working on the shadows and highlights, but this should give you a better idea of the light source. I’m trying (really hard) to paint foreground parts first so …
The Birdcage (in progress 2)
I know it looks bad, but it’s just the underpainting. Sorry. No electric blue cats with cartoon whiskers.
The Birdcage (in progress: sketch)
I had an idea to do another black cat, but this time I wanted to do something different. Bring a little story into the painting. Here’s the sketch I came up with. So if the cat’s going to be black, I thought I could make the bird yellow and the wall a desaturated purple-ish. I’ve been working somewhat big lately. Well, not necessarily …
Rodney @ 10 (in progress 5)
I think Rodney is starting to cooperate now that he knows I’m going to paint him no matter how much he protests. I also think I figured out the warm color I’ve been looking for in the orange mixture I messed with today. I added it to his shirt (you can see that in the bottom photo), in his face …
Rodney @ 10 (in progress 4)
Back at it. I messed with his hair (I grew him some), and the middle image shows a close-up. It’s subtle, but I think it’s (mostly) finished. I also gave him the start of a shirt. I’m not sure yet what color I’m going for, but I hope I’ll know when I find it. In the meantime I’m painting the …
Rodney @ 10 (in progress 3)
I got some more painting done on Rodney: The top image shows the dark underpainting I did to start his eyes, and I cropped everything to give you a better look at the details. In the second image I started lightening up his eyes and also painted a bit more in the background. In the bottom image, his eyes are …
Rodney @ 10 (in progress 2)
I transferred the sketch of Rodney to a piece of 18″x24″ plywood using graphite paper. The top image shows the plywood with the transferred sketch. In the middle photo below I put some basic color down on the background and some preliminary shadows on his face to get an idea of how I want the lighting. In the bottom photo the …
Rodney @ 10 (in progress)
The Rots turn 10 years old this month (they grow up so fast!), and every five years I plan on painting a new version of Rodney in the style I’m currently using when their birthday rolls around. Rodney was the very first Rot I ever drew on June 29, 2006, and has come to symbolize the birth of The Rots: He was …
Emma (in progress 3)
Now we’re getting somewhere. I’ve worked on Emma’s face, hair and hands which you can see in the top image. The middle image is a close-up of her face to that point (but by the time I shot the bottom image I had added a little more red into her ears). On the bottom, I’ve blocked in most of her …
Emma (in progress 2)
Finally painting! The image at the top shows my first layer of the background. Pretty boring and flat, but necessary. In the middle image I’ve added darker and lighter areas to the background as well as Emma’s hair buns and some of the shady parts of her face. On the bottom, her face is getting some color, but I’m not …
Emma (in progress)
This is a sketch for Emma, exactly as she (originally) appeared in my sketchbook. I say “originally” because the first thing I did after I scanned her in was change my mind about the bat wings and completely erase them. (Physically. With an eraser.) I used a kraft paper sketchbook (Earthbound Recycled Sketch Book, 7″x10″ by Cachet) which makes the page look discolored …